Portable deck



0t.26 1943. G, @GREUUCH l 2,332,968

PORTABLE DECK Filed June k1s 1941 extend approximately midway thereof. construction enables the moisture which is en- Patented Oct. 26, 1943 PORTABLE DECK Gerald G. Greulich, Mount Lebanon, Pa., assignor to vCarnegie-Illinois Steel Corporation,

- Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of New Jersey Application June 1s, 1941 serial No. 398,653

l (ci. 94-13) 2 Claims.

This invention relates te. portable decks, and more particularly to those which provide coverings on unstable soil and the like, which permits the landing thereon of airplanes.

It is among the objects of the present invention to provide a portable deck of the type referred to, which establishes an increased resistance to sliding.

provide trough-like stiffening ribs, and the an` nular apertures 6 provide spaces in which the soil upo'n which the portable deck is placed may penetrate and assist in the prevention of sliding of the plates. In addition, these annular apertures 6 provide for the growth therethrough of Another object is the provision of a portable at the same time cheap and easy to manufacture, install, and dismantle.

The foregoing and other objects Will become more apparent after referring to the drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary plan of one of the plates ofthe deck of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary side elevation.

Figure 3 is a sectional view on the line III--III of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary plan of a pair of plates of Figure 1 in connected relation.

Figure 5 is an elevational view, partly in section, illustrating the manner in which the interlocking devices function.

Referring more particularly to the drawing,

the numeral 2 generally designates a metallic plate of which a group are assembled to form the portable deck of the present invention. As shown in Figure 3, each of the metallic plates 2 defines a dat surface extending longitudinally of which is a plurality of continuous parallel longitudinal grooves 5. These grooves 5 are formed by deforming the material of the plate out of the plane of the flat surface thereof and into continuous U-shaped troughs. On either side of the con tinuous parallel longitudinal grooves 5 is a row of annular apertures 6 each of which is formed by punching the metal out of the dat surface of the plate 2 to provide a downwardly-extending circumferential coniform ange 1.

Referring more particularly to Figure 3, it will be perceived that the continuous parallel longitudinal grooves 5 are of substantial depth, while the downwardly-directed circumferential coniform anges 'I of the annular apertures 6 are of substantially less depth, for example, they may This trapped below the rib to escape by capillary action through the open holes 6.

The continuous parallel longitudinal grooves 5 vegetation for camouflage purposes. The provision of the downwardly-extending circumferential coniform anges 'I serves to stifen the body POrtion of the plates 2 around the annular apertures 6.

` Referring more particularly toFigure 1, the longitudinal edges of the metallic plates 2 are provided with interlocking instrumentalities of such construction that any row of interlocked plates, or any individual plate of any given row, may be readily removed from the completed deck by shifting the plates endwise suiiiciently to accomplish detachment. Preferably the interlocking construction is of the type disclosed and claimed in my co-pending application Serial No.

358,180, now Patent No. 2,294,550, iiled Septem-v ber 24, 1940, and entitled Portable deck, wherein each longitudinal edge 9 of each of the metallic plates 2 is provided with a series of aligned .spaced downwardly-projecting lugs, each lug embodiment of the present invention, it will be seen that I do not Wish to be limited exactly thereto, since various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim: l

1. A portable airplane landing eld comprising a. plurality of connected plates adapted for rapid attachment and detachment, each of said plates comprising a substantially rectangular body por tion of rolled metal provided with spaced longitudinally-extending depressed portions forming trough-like stiifening ribs, said body portion having a series of relatively closely spaced annular openings located between the ribs and provided with downwardly-extending, coniform stiiening flanges, said conifo'rin stiiening flanges being of substantiallylless depth than said longitudinally-extending trough-like stiffening ribs but cooperating therewith to serve as anchoring means for said plates, said openings permitting vegetation to extend upwardly from the ground on which the said plates are mounted to therehy camouflage the same.

2. A portable airplane landing field comprising a plurality of connected plates adapted for rapid attachment and detachment, each of said plates comprising a substantially rectangular body portion of rolled metal provided with spaced longitudinally-extending depressed portions forming trough-like stiffening ribs, said body portion aaaaees GERALD G. GREULICH. 

